Posted by Chris O on April 14, 2014, at 18:36:39
Hello, everyone. I'm on Day 10 of 20mg/day of Brintellix trial. I've seen a few musings on the dr-bob boards regarding the sexual side effects of Brintellix. I'd like to put in my two cents. For me, I can say that the sexual side of effects of Brintellix are very strong. I'm a 47-year-old man. Not taking any other meds at this time. My main issues are long-term (lifetime) generalized anxiety and depression, probably brought on due to an incredibly stressful childhood (from which I am still recovering).
What I notice in terms of the sexual side effects from Brintellix (at the risk of being too graphic) is strong decrease in sexual desire and pleasure, and fairly strong anorgasmia. This side effect seems to line up with the insert in the Brintellix samples, which said that 32% of men taking Brintellix 20mg a day in trails had similar side effects. What's so frustrating to me is that this decrease in sexual desire and pleasure seems somehow related to my anxiety and depression. Brintellix has also decreased my anxiety and depression noticeably in the last ten days. As others have noted on this board, it's ridiculously annoying that the very drugs that would allow us to be more social and enjoy life more, connect with others more, also take away our ability to do these things. On another frustrating side, I also notice that I am losing a sense of what I am doing battle with internally on Brintellix (all kinds of patterns I am trying to change from my childhood), which would seem to be a good thing (forgetting painful things), but which (to me at least) is making me more comfortable with those patterns (which is something I do not want).
Anyway, I hope this information is helpful to someone on the dr-bob boards. Even if Brintellix ends up working for me, I know I cannot pay for it at this point. So, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Anyone else experiencing these types of sexual side effects on Brintellix?
Chris
poster:Chris O
thread:1064210
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140328/msgs/1064210.html